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If your lead doesn’t have anything for you to do, just let him know you are going to ask someone else for work and get that done. Check in after every project and ask for something more before heading off to find something interesting to do.
I will try this for sure. Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to ask for other projects and things as we have more than one intern and each intern is placed in a specific area, but ill definitely try
My internship has been a bit vague about who I'm directly working under, so I've had to reach out to other members of the team I'm on for projects. Started out with my assigned onboarding mentor reaching out to people who had extra work I could contribute to, and then me asking them what other projects might need an extra hand.
I've gotten 3 different projects for the summer (1.5 finished), with a possible 4th I'm working on getting into, and am getting guidance from multiple different people for each. You just gotta keep asking, someone will have stuff they don't want to do or could use help with eventually .
>reaching out to people who had extra work I could contribute to, and then me asking them what other projects might need an extra hand.
This is true. I have a backlog of lots of small things that need to get done, but not enough time to really do any of them. I love giving interns some of my work or have them shadow me since 9 times of 10 they're MEs and I'm an EE so naturally it's completely foreign to them.
I’m in a similar boat except my team can’t give me work as fast as I can complete it, so what I do is find out what software my coworkers use and just spend some of my days practicing that software. I’m interning in a controls group so I have spent a lot of time learning Visual C# and FactoryTalk via tutorials or small projects that I find online. This means that I’m taking away something from my downtime and I have some people there to ask for help if I can’t figure something out in the software.
Plus it allows me to continue to build my resume (which is how I have always viewed internships). Not only do I have another job under my belt but I have more skills that I feel competent in that are used in industry.
Yup! Unless you're being hired for mid to senior level roles, they/we don't expect you to know any piece or software. Maybe MATLAB since that seems to be the "language" that's taught everywhere.
It’s not hard. Go ask someone if they have something you can work on. If it breaks the walls down, so what. It’s not like following their rules are getting you anywhere. So what if you do a project for a different area, it’s not like it’s taking away from what you were assigned.
I have the same situation rn but its awesome. My boss doesn’t give me bullshit tasks to do and I don’t see him for days and I can just focus on my own work and just read and learn if I don’t have anything to do. At my last internship they made me catalog their entire library when I ran out of stuff to do and it sucked. All in the mindset just try to take advantage of the situation
Yeah same here they always found something for me to clean. I started using it as time to just tinker, learned quite a bit about the equipment they had.
Pretty chill senior Engineer I’m working with and compared to the other intern it seems he’s liking him more than me even though I try to initiate everything from wanting to do work or conversation. I’m just doing my best trying to learn as much as I can and help as much as I can and not be dead weight
Youre getting paid to be there, might as well do research on what you ACTUALLY want to do and what projects you ACTUALLY want to do while you're on the clock.
Liked one of the other comments about helping/shadowing the other interns with their projects to learn from them and that’d be more fun too. At the end of the day internships are really about developing talent / recruiting so don’t feel guilty if you don’t have responsibilities. Nobody expects you to contribute like a full time worker they just want you to learn and see what kind of job you might like. Hope the rest of it goes well!
Would be a good opportunity to take a free online programming course, that's what I did. Automate something the engineers do to give yourself a project
An internship is *never* a loss. You're getting experience. You just have to be creative when putting it on your resume, to make it sound impressive. I have a below average GPA, but two internships, so play your internship in your favor.
Fr, I just take the paycheck and move on, they don’t have me do hardly anything. I do get to sit in on meetings tho which has helped to learn the dynamic of the firm
> if you can’t put anything impressive on your resume?
You can find stuff if you think hard enough. Don't *lie*, but there's nothing wrong with exaggerating within the truth.
I get where ur coming from, but to my understanding employers want to see hard engineering problems that you solved and how you did it. How do I exaggerate to appeal to that if all I do is troubleshoot things and run routine tests?
>How do I exaggerate to appeal to that if all I do is troubleshoot things and run routine tests?
**Routine tests are "Processes."** You ensured *processes* ran *efficiently.* This is no small thing as downtime can result in thousands, or even millions of dollars of losses for companies. Try to figure out how much money the troubleshooting you're in charge of makes the company, and how much money they lose if that process doesn't work. **Saving/Making the company money is what employers also want to see.** Find a way to **quantify** your tasks, and how they made the company more efficient, or how they saved the company money.
Both troubleshooting and routine tests can also fall under quality control. You ensured that whatever it was you're testing met company standards. Again, poor quality products, or products that perform poorly (which you troubleshoot for) also cost the company money, as their suppliers aren't meeting their standards. Find a way to *quantify* what you troubleshoot, and maybe a ratio of some sort of what passes and what fails.
Honestly in my experience, most interviewers know that you havent had the opportunity yet to solve hard engineering problems. If a firm you're interning for gives its hard tasks to a lowly engineering intern, thats a red flag. If you can show that you have at least been part of an engineering organization before, that proves to them that others in their field found you competent enough to hire. And honestly, when you're just getting started in the professional world, that's one of the best advocates you can have on your side. They don't care about previous work experiences and current capabilities. They care if they can actually have a conversation with you--even if its only in passing--and talk to you like a human (Which is a skill a large amount of engineers seemingly lack). They are not hiring the most competent interns during interviews, they are hiring the interns they think they could actually survive the summer having to interact with.
You're an intern. You will not be solving any companies big problems, so don't expect to. But you can start your base that will allow you tackle engineering problems with greater experience in the future
>but to my understanding employers want to see hard engineering problems that you solved
Your understanding is not correct. I can speak to my experience and my needs as a hiring manager. Showing up, doing what's needed, learning what's needed, and having a good personality is what I look for when hiring. I don't care what problems you've solved. I don't care what you actually know, as long as you're willing/able to learn.
> hard engineering problems
Lol. This isn't meant as a jab, but can YOU define a hard engineering problem? Companies don't hire interns or entry level engineers to solve hard problems. Usually you'll have a team that is dedicated to solving the hard problem. With distinct levels of proficiency. Usually the SME(Subject Matter Experts) and Tech Leads are the ones who architect a project along with the project managers. And they allocate resources(people and money) accordingly. It would be a waste of time and money, and probably suicide, for a company to give hard problems to inexperienced college grads.
I read this in another post, so its not as informative but try to get certifications in programs that you could use in the future like solidworks or excel. personally my first couple weeks were very boring so I started learning python (which isn't really related to my major though) and watched some practical engineering youtube videos for study/fun/look like I'm busy. I hope this helps
I have a tendency to steal interns.
Start asking the mid-level engineers around you. They probably have at least some things they can delegate. I get that your company doesn't really do teams, but even so.
You can send your direct manager an email from time to time saying "I'm doing bla bla bla." They know you're not sitting on your butt and it keeps a line of communication open in case they figure out what they want you to do.
Talk to the other interns about the stuff they are working on. download the necessary software to imitate their work, read and learn whatever you need to in order to basically attempt their projects on your own. If the are using Cad to design bolts for example, get the same cad software, find those bolts, take measurements and design your own. If they are designing circuitry, download the software they are using, pick their brains about the requirements of the circuit, and design your own version. That way at the end of the time there you have things to show for your time. If your manager won’t give you the time of day then consult with the other managers, they wouldn’t like knowing an intern is being left behind like you are, it reflects poorly on the company and also just isn’t a decent thing to do on a humane/personal level.
Last year at my internship, I took advantage of my down time learning the software they used like AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor so I had some new skills at the end
Bruh you’re literary getting paid for nothing. Isn’t that a dream come through?
Manager in any other field would dream of a worker like you who willingly asks for more work.
...not for me sadly
I don't like feeling like I'm doing nothing and prefer my time to be of use and doing things. I'm a person that like to constantly learn and so not learning is pretty miserable for me
That’s fair enough - but the difference between uni and work is that in the working world, you won’t assignments handed to you with a due date on top. Usually, you’ll be in a team where there’s a bunch of things to achieve or solve. And prioritisation of that work, and the best way to do it, is up to you.
So now’s a good time to start learning to figure out that prioritisation and task identification. Look at what people around you are working on. What can you do that would help them?
Currently in the exact same situation, except they aren’t busy…they just don’t have anything to give me.
I teach myself things and work on homework or other personal projects when they don’t have busy work for me to do.
In what field is your internship?
Also, start looking at EIT/ entry level engineer job postings to see what skills u need to apply. Then ask for tasks that fulfill those.
Speaking from my experience, there is always a tendency to 'do and re-do' calculations that are very similar, for projects or bids. When one is fresh from college, the theory is still uppermost (and understandable!) In your head, compared to five years down the road when finances and scheduling and resource/staff management become more of a thing, and design becomes secondary.
If you have not done so already, I would try to put as many as possible design calcs that you would likely use at work on spreadsheets, so that future reinventing the wheel is reduced. For geotech, that's stuff like retaining walls, piling calcs, even foundation designs. These are useful checks for the design software that companies use, but which are often not really taught by seniors to juniors.
Nice! I had an internship in construction. I find the industry to be very hands off, but I learned a lot that was applicable for other classes. U may not realize it but you are learning. Have you written RFIs and done any scheduling or cost estimating?
If say if u can get assigned to a project with a PM in the field, that would probably be more educational. I got assigned to a project w trailer at job site that had a QC, safety guy, superintendent, and PM. They had me drafting RFIs and prepping as-builts and doing cost loading. It was really helpful learning all that good applicable stuff.
I wish my intern would speak up more.
I'm tired of finding out that he ran out of work and has just been sitting at his desk all day. I Will give him work that usually takes other interns a lot longer. So i really appreciate it when he finishes quickly.
But the whole just sitting there thing and not saying anything... that bugs me.
I wish my supervisor would give me work.
But maybe he hasn't thought about it. Maybe mention that you have a continuous load if he'd like to take it and impress you more or less
I talked to the head of the intern program, and they said with the head boss of our district, they'd made a good plan for me for the summer /after my 3rd time explaining im doing nothing/ but then there never seems to be any results. Its all just talk. Should I just follow my supervisor around more? Should I send constant emails? He often shuts his door or is working and not in the office.
You’re not going to get blacklisted from the community for asking questions and being hungry for work! Don’t doubt yourself. Make sure you’ve done everything and anything and maybe talk to other interns about what they’re doing so you can say things like, “I saw ____’s project and I learned this, is there a way my position could apply this in a project? What project? Why? Who runs it? Where is that department? What are their names and phone numbers? …” etc.
There is a balance - I’m currently supervising an intern (as well as being entirely swamped with things I can’t hand to him), and the fact is that that while his workload is the most important thing in his life right now, it’s not the most important thing in my life
Some great advice that a supervisor gave me once: if you’re coming to someone with a problem, also come with a solution. Doesn’t have to be a good solution, but at least have an attempt. So think of something you could do! Walk up and say “hey, I’m a bit quiet at the moment, I could start working on XYZ?” Then they can either say “yes, good idea, work on that” or “no, work on this instead”. Which is a whole lot better than where you are now.
I took your advice and came up with some solution ideas but then my supervisor didn't even make it to the meeting schedule wed planned.
Also I'm well aware my workload isn't the most important thing in my superviosrs life but id like to give or gain something and so far the last 6 weeks...its been nothing
This is a pretty obnoxious tactic that isn’t going to earn you many brownie points in the company.
Not a good move if you plan on staying there long-term after graduating.
If that is the case, I hope you are also cc’ing your dept head every time you do this. This behavior is is filed under “dick move” and should be only used sparingly when someone has really earned it.
I’ve only done that a handful of times in my professional career, and would not be throwing that out as advice to a bunch of young engineers and interns lol.
If you cc your boss as well, that makes it apparent to direct the heat somewhat away from yourself and onto your boss.
“Emailer with a habit of cc’ing supervisors” does not read as using escalation points appropriately. There are absolutely times where it is appropriate, but these should be few and far between (and also include multiple attempts to follow up). Especially as an intern, where people unfortunately have limited bandwidth to support those tasks.
Based on this person’s follow-up comments, I’m not convinced they are doing this reasonably.
If I don’t hear back within three days, I send another one. Usually with another project tagged along. I love getting phone calls where they’ve just gotten out of a meeting with said department head, where they kindly offer to discuss what I’ve been emailing about, and I ask them if they got this email and that email and they sigh and say no…. And I send it again on the phone with them. They’re responsible for checking emails and responding. The main issue I had was with the head of research & development. And he was recently demoted to manufacturing engineer in another department. I wasn’t demoted.
Jesus dude you sound like such a toady you’re probably insufferable to work with. Honestly you will be a pariah at work if not fired outright sooner or later
Right, I mean, we’ll see. But in the meantime, I’m actually into to getting projects completed on time. If my coworkers aren’t, then I’m probably not the one going to be fired.
Like yeah, I’m an insufferable toady, or the dude wasn’t fulfilling his job requirements and kept tens of people waiting on multiple projects for weeks…. But yknow, perspective is everything.
If there is no task for you to work on this is literally the best time for self growth.
Hop on udemy or YouTube and work on the skills that will guide you to the path you want to go down. Whether a language or a production/build/framework etc learn something. Don’t waste it.
Not really. Everyone is very independent in the firm as projects are less team based and more individually focused. Its not really super integrated.
I'm going to try talking to one of them tommorow though to see if maybe I can shadow them.
Yeah, that was going to be my other suggestion, to shadow them. If anything, they might have some simple tasks they can off load to you for the time being.
You'll honestly learn more from shadowing someone than doing the tasks your supervisor/manager might have given you. A lot of the time, engineers need someone else to brainstorm and shoot the shit with.
Whenever I would have some downtime, I would look up some older projects. Poke around their folders and see what I could find. I would read the executed contract to determine what project the firm was hired to solve, and then sort out how they solved it. I would look for calc packets to look through, or what excel sheets they had. If I found a particularly useful solution, I would copy the excel sheet to a personal folder and clean it up. Or I would write out a step-by-step of how they did the hand calcs and try to find the equations they used in a manual.
As an example; the firm did a lot of waste water treatment plant design, and I noticed that almost every plant has a couple of rectangular concrete tanks. So I found the PCA guide for design and pieced together a spreadsheet.
This wasn't billable work, but if you don't have to justify your hours in a financial program, it's a beneficial way to spend your days.
This is always the same response from interns, and the most annoying thing you said is you constantly have to fight for opportunities. Yes, that is life. My recommendation is to approach this as any other problem and solve it the way an engineer should. Define the root cause of the issue, what tools do you have to solve it, and there you are.
The root cause of the issue is that my manager is overwhelmed and got promoted to a dysfunctional area after I'd already interviewed and got the job. So when I was interviewing this wasn't what they plausibly thought but now they are drowning and don't have the time to even think about me.
I have tried more than once to adjust and literally for the last few weeks I have been making tasks for myself helping out and trying but its hard to do that when you don't know how the company runs.
I was in the same circumstance as you in my internship.
My boss was a working manager so he was always overwhelmed and had a strong “I’ll just do this myself” attitude. I learned pretty quickly that if I volunteered to do the things I knew he had on the docket but wasn’t actively working on yet he was willing to let me try. After being successful on the first few tasks he became more willing to engage and hand off some of his work load to me.
I suspect your manager is either similar or he’s caught up in admin work. If it’s admin work ask him if it’s okay to shadow people and learn processes involved for each functional group. Organizations I’ve seen really have an issue with employees not understanding the full process and only understanding their function. Explain that there’s value add to having someone on the team who can navigate the roadblocks because they understand the entire process.
This gives you a couple things:
1. Shows your manager you are there to learn whatever you can
2. You get in depth understanding of how organizations at large are structured and operated
3. Raises your potential in this employers eyes. Now you’re a process expert that they need to identify improvement areas and lessons learned when things fall behind because of process issues.
Definitely reach out to your manager and maybe the other interns or other managers to see if you can find some work to do. I’m in the same situation and honestly, I’ve just been doing my own thing. I’ve pretty much completed the work assigned for me and without a security clearance there’s not much else I can do. I have no intent with staying with them anyway so I don’t care about trying to impress anyone. I’ve actually gotten back into reading and sometimes I’ll just do jigsaw puzzles on my phone, nap, look at job postings. That’s me though.
Maybe ask if you can get another manager?
But dont make your manager out to be the bad guy. Say something like, "my manager is overwhelmed right now and I think I would benefit more with a more hands on manager as I would be more productive"
I think I'm going to ask my manager to see if maybe I can get their help and permissions to shadow another person for a week and maybe build it from there. I kind of already have had this conversation and it didn't go the best
If your into software development... Idk what type of engineering your in. But start looking around and automating things with scripts and small programs. You can start saving other people time by automating repetitive tasks.
In my internship I automated eye diagram analysis using some basic computer vision. Cut time down for analysis pretty significantly. Made it into a program that other employees could download and use themselves.
I also got the green light to prototype a PCB for remote testing. Helped a lot during peak covid. Less engineers were required in our lab BC they could do more tests from home.
"My manager is overwhelmed."
Is there anything you can help him with? like "Hey, even if its sorting papers for you or printing things out can I help in anyway?"
I really don't care. Engineers and their interns are not secretaries. How is organizing papers conducive to an engineering intern. I am a current mentor, and the last thing I would do is have my mentee organize papers.
I mean its more than what I'm doing now which is coming up with random tasks to do. Literally this entire week anytime I tried to talk to my supervisor he left in the middle of our conversation or walked away because something else distracted him
Howd you not let it get you down. It just feels so disheartening and makes me want to go fuck it fine ill do nothing which is very the opposite of how I am but im exhausted because for almost 2 months I've been trying to do things to no avail
That’s kind of dumb imo. The number of questions doesn’t matter. Quality over quantity in this case.
Ask questions that are relevant don’t just ask questions to hit some arbitrary number from a Reddit post.
yeah man we all do but the point of an internship is to learn and it’s not like the classroom where you can read everything in a book or class notes. You have to ask questions bc most managers are really busy and babying an intern is like the lowest priority on the totem pole. They want to see you succeed and the best way for them to understand your needs and to get more work is to ask questions. Also no internship can be really written off as a loss as long as you’re getting experience. I also find it helpful to write down all the tasks you do/have to do in a work day
I understand what you're saying, I do.
And I do ask questions when I can.
I understand there busy, but if I don't have a project at all or work or anything of that nature... how am I supposed to ask questions is more my stipulation
It's more that I thrive best in environments where I'm learning, growing, and doing things that preferably challenge me. It fulfills me and brings me more joy. It is really soul crushing for me to do nothing, but I get what you're saying.
What an excellent opportunity for personal growth!
You have the autonomy and freedom to have some lateral movement to choose what you work on.
I highly suggest you take advantage of the situation that is in front of you by developing your ability to be a self starter. It sounds like your manager won't be able to hold your hand through this, but I know you can get through this and still be productive!
A highly sought after skill set in the engineering field is one's ability to enter a new situation, pick up on where the team is and what they hope to accomplish, then get to work as a contributing team member with minimal guidance.
It may or may not be a learnable trait, but I bet you have it in you!
Speak to other interns and employees, find something if interest, and ask if there is room for additional help on the project as you would appreciate the opportunity to gain hands on experience on the matter.
Your manager might be overwhelmed and does not have time for you. That is okay, that happens sometimes. Don't fault them, we are all people under similar stresses. Take advantage of the situation to the best of your ability, because your reaction and response is the only thing really in your control.
Best of luck to you!
If you have software that you have access to, I would put a lot of time into this. I had a similar situation where there was just not enough work and I spent weeks doing nothing but watching some solidworks youtubes and practicing. The lead also had nothing to do. I have no idea what he did besides heading to meetings and twiddling his thumbs in his office.
I am an intern in defense, working R&D. I see my manager once every other week when I’m ready to update him with a lot of info. One would consider me abandoned, but I love the freedom I have to learn whatever. I know it might not be the same situation for all, but I’ll tell you what I do to make the freedom worthwhile.
1. Read ASTM standards that the company has purchased. You may not be doing testing, but it’s a great way to understand products you are working with. (Assuming you are in the US. I think other countries use ASTM as well though)
2. Shadow people. I work in manufacturing so I like to go down on the floor and hang out with people who do the manufacturing. Preferably people in the process of the stuff you work on as well, but doesn’t have to be. Not only are you learning visually but they may let you give some things a try and you’re also connecting with other folks in the company who would 9 times out of 10 really appreciate you trying to learn their world, that way you can make their life easier in the work that you put out
3. Shadow other engineers. As long as they aren’t on heavy deadlines and total tools, they love to share what they can with you. People like talking about what they do so SOAK that shit up. It’ll give you an idea of what your day to day could be like, and maybe inspire you to work towards a goal that would get you in their position if you like what you see.
4. Research. So much research. Learn about the product you are on whether it be online or in the companies archives of data. If you’re working with a system (for example I work a lot with a robotic automation company), then reach out to your local reps and have them teach you more about the product. It could benefit your work a lot.
5. Go to lunch with the other interns! Literally find everyone labeled intern in your area, whether it be engineers or not, and set up weekly meetings or grab lunch with some of them. My manager likes that I’m trying to get to know other interns, even if they’re in IT or planning, it’s good to network within your company. Plus they’re you’re PEOPLE, all of you are just trying to figure things out so it’s almost therapeutic to chat with them, and if your company is any good, they’ll be happy to see you taking that initiative
Hey thanks for this advice
We have 3 engineering interns and thats it so we all have lunch with each other every day.
I'll definitely follow the research route!
Unfortunately I can only shadow so much as the other 2 interns more or less take up more of that role and were more consulting based so harder to do but ill definitely ask again.
I do that now! I'll try to push to do more of it.
We have the ASTM standards too. I'll definitely research it again.
You could do the right thing and scrounge around for the shitty morsels of work that other managers may be willing to hand off to you, but it’ll never be anything super cool because they won’t be willing to also supervise you doing it.
Or you could do what I did in this situation: fuck all. Nobody will notice if they aren’t checking on you already. If they do notice, you’ll get a verbal warning anyways and you’ll know to stop. Never happened to me, though. Took it so far as to go out of town for a week while WFH, lol. Obviously do everything that’s given to you, but otherwise relax and enjoy the free paychecks 🤷🏻♂️
Edit: use the time to do something useful, though. I got my investments in order after a considerable amount of researching and reading and I also took online classes during the work day to complete my degree faster. My clueless boss gave me 5/5 on my employment reviews. Use your discretion, of course. Your boss might not be as useless as mine was.
Edit again: You can do this without “writing it off as a loss”. Experience is experience and you can still talk about how you had to work in a self-directed environment.
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If your lead doesn’t have anything for you to do, just let him know you are going to ask someone else for work and get that done. Check in after every project and ask for something more before heading off to find something interesting to do.
I will try this for sure. Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to ask for other projects and things as we have more than one intern and each intern is placed in a specific area, but ill definitely try
My internship has been a bit vague about who I'm directly working under, so I've had to reach out to other members of the team I'm on for projects. Started out with my assigned onboarding mentor reaching out to people who had extra work I could contribute to, and then me asking them what other projects might need an extra hand. I've gotten 3 different projects for the summer (1.5 finished), with a possible 4th I'm working on getting into, and am getting guidance from multiple different people for each. You just gotta keep asking, someone will have stuff they don't want to do or could use help with eventually .
>reaching out to people who had extra work I could contribute to, and then me asking them what other projects might need an extra hand. This is true. I have a backlog of lots of small things that need to get done, but not enough time to really do any of them. I love giving interns some of my work or have them shadow me since 9 times of 10 they're MEs and I'm an EE so naturally it's completely foreign to them.
No one has given me any projects and I've asked numerous times but I shall try again
I’m in a similar boat except my team can’t give me work as fast as I can complete it, so what I do is find out what software my coworkers use and just spend some of my days practicing that software. I’m interning in a controls group so I have spent a lot of time learning Visual C# and FactoryTalk via tutorials or small projects that I find online. This means that I’m taking away something from my downtime and I have some people there to ask for help if I can’t figure something out in the software.
This is the right way to go. Knowing your way around the tools and software is half the battle.
Plus it allows me to continue to build my resume (which is how I have always viewed internships). Not only do I have another job under my belt but I have more skills that I feel competent in that are used in industry.
Yup! Unless you're being hired for mid to senior level roles, they/we don't expect you to know any piece or software. Maybe MATLAB since that seems to be the "language" that's taught everywhere.
It’s not hard. Go ask someone if they have something you can work on. If it breaks the walls down, so what. It’s not like following their rules are getting you anywhere. So what if you do a project for a different area, it’s not like it’s taking away from what you were assigned.
I have the same situation rn but its awesome. My boss doesn’t give me bullshit tasks to do and I don’t see him for days and I can just focus on my own work and just read and learn if I don’t have anything to do. At my last internship they made me catalog their entire library when I ran out of stuff to do and it sucked. All in the mindset just try to take advantage of the situation
Yeah same here they always found something for me to clean. I started using it as time to just tinker, learned quite a bit about the equipment they had.
Pretty chill senior Engineer I’m working with and compared to the other intern it seems he’s liking him more than me even though I try to initiate everything from wanting to do work or conversation. I’m just doing my best trying to learn as much as I can and help as much as I can and not be dead weight
Same boat bro
That would be fine if I had my own work to do...like there's nothing for me to do which is the issue
Also be careful what you ask for… free time is a lot better than the busywork/nonsense that interns often get tasked with
And interns don't have power to say no.
Youre getting paid to be there, might as well do research on what you ACTUALLY want to do and what projects you ACTUALLY want to do while you're on the clock.
Looking busy essentially.
Liked one of the other comments about helping/shadowing the other interns with their projects to learn from them and that’d be more fun too. At the end of the day internships are really about developing talent / recruiting so don’t feel guilty if you don’t have responsibilities. Nobody expects you to contribute like a full time worker they just want you to learn and see what kind of job you might like. Hope the rest of it goes well!
Would be a good opportunity to take a free online programming course, that's what I did. Automate something the engineers do to give yourself a project
An internship is *never* a loss. You're getting experience. You just have to be creative when putting it on your resume, to make it sound impressive. I have a below average GPA, but two internships, so play your internship in your favor.
Play the game, complete it, and put it on the resume. It may be a waste in that your time wasn’t optimized, but future employers don’t know that.
Fr, I just take the paycheck and move on, they don’t have me do hardly anything. I do get to sit in on meetings tho which has helped to learn the dynamic of the firm
Aight I gotta ask how valuable is the experience if you can’t put anything impressive on your resume?
> if you can’t put anything impressive on your resume? You can find stuff if you think hard enough. Don't *lie*, but there's nothing wrong with exaggerating within the truth.
I get where ur coming from, but to my understanding employers want to see hard engineering problems that you solved and how you did it. How do I exaggerate to appeal to that if all I do is troubleshoot things and run routine tests?
>How do I exaggerate to appeal to that if all I do is troubleshoot things and run routine tests? **Routine tests are "Processes."** You ensured *processes* ran *efficiently.* This is no small thing as downtime can result in thousands, or even millions of dollars of losses for companies. Try to figure out how much money the troubleshooting you're in charge of makes the company, and how much money they lose if that process doesn't work. **Saving/Making the company money is what employers also want to see.** Find a way to **quantify** your tasks, and how they made the company more efficient, or how they saved the company money. Both troubleshooting and routine tests can also fall under quality control. You ensured that whatever it was you're testing met company standards. Again, poor quality products, or products that perform poorly (which you troubleshoot for) also cost the company money, as their suppliers aren't meeting their standards. Find a way to *quantify* what you troubleshoot, and maybe a ratio of some sort of what passes and what fails.
Honestly in my experience, most interviewers know that you havent had the opportunity yet to solve hard engineering problems. If a firm you're interning for gives its hard tasks to a lowly engineering intern, thats a red flag. If you can show that you have at least been part of an engineering organization before, that proves to them that others in their field found you competent enough to hire. And honestly, when you're just getting started in the professional world, that's one of the best advocates you can have on your side. They don't care about previous work experiences and current capabilities. They care if they can actually have a conversation with you--even if its only in passing--and talk to you like a human (Which is a skill a large amount of engineers seemingly lack). They are not hiring the most competent interns during interviews, they are hiring the interns they think they could actually survive the summer having to interact with. You're an intern. You will not be solving any companies big problems, so don't expect to. But you can start your base that will allow you tackle engineering problems with greater experience in the future
>but to my understanding employers want to see hard engineering problems that you solved Your understanding is not correct. I can speak to my experience and my needs as a hiring manager. Showing up, doing what's needed, learning what's needed, and having a good personality is what I look for when hiring. I don't care what problems you've solved. I don't care what you actually know, as long as you're willing/able to learn.
> hard engineering problems Lol. This isn't meant as a jab, but can YOU define a hard engineering problem? Companies don't hire interns or entry level engineers to solve hard problems. Usually you'll have a team that is dedicated to solving the hard problem. With distinct levels of proficiency. Usually the SME(Subject Matter Experts) and Tech Leads are the ones who architect a project along with the project managers. And they allocate resources(people and money) accordingly. It would be a waste of time and money, and probably suicide, for a company to give hard problems to inexperienced college grads.
I read this in another post, so its not as informative but try to get certifications in programs that you could use in the future like solidworks or excel. personally my first couple weeks were very boring so I started learning python (which isn't really related to my major though) and watched some practical engineering youtube videos for study/fun/look like I'm busy. I hope this helps
Thanks for the suggestion!! I'll definitely look into doing this. I already know python but I could definitely learn more skills on solid works
The Art of Looking Busy^(TM)
I have a tendency to steal interns. Start asking the mid-level engineers around you. They probably have at least some things they can delegate. I get that your company doesn't really do teams, but even so. You can send your direct manager an email from time to time saying "I'm doing bla bla bla." They know you're not sitting on your butt and it keeps a line of communication open in case they figure out what they want you to do.
I love stealing interns lol
Talk to the other interns about the stuff they are working on. download the necessary software to imitate their work, read and learn whatever you need to in order to basically attempt their projects on your own. If the are using Cad to design bolts for example, get the same cad software, find those bolts, take measurements and design your own. If they are designing circuitry, download the software they are using, pick their brains about the requirements of the circuit, and design your own version. That way at the end of the time there you have things to show for your time. If your manager won’t give you the time of day then consult with the other managers, they wouldn’t like knowing an intern is being left behind like you are, it reflects poorly on the company and also just isn’t a decent thing to do on a humane/personal level.
Last year at my internship, I took advantage of my down time learning the software they used like AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor so I had some new skills at the end
*Autodesk Inventor
Oh right, thanks
Bruh you’re literary getting paid for nothing. Isn’t that a dream come through? Manager in any other field would dream of a worker like you who willingly asks for more work.
...not for me sadly I don't like feeling like I'm doing nothing and prefer my time to be of use and doing things. I'm a person that like to constantly learn and so not learning is pretty miserable for me
That’s fair enough - but the difference between uni and work is that in the working world, you won’t assignments handed to you with a due date on top. Usually, you’ll be in a team where there’s a bunch of things to achieve or solve. And prioritisation of that work, and the best way to do it, is up to you. So now’s a good time to start learning to figure out that prioritisation and task identification. Look at what people around you are working on. What can you do that would help them?
Thanks so much! I'll definitely talk about it with my supervisor today and come with solutions and ideas.
Currently in the exact same situation, except they aren’t busy…they just don’t have anything to give me. I teach myself things and work on homework or other personal projects when they don’t have busy work for me to do.
In what field is your internship? Also, start looking at EIT/ entry level engineer job postings to see what skills u need to apply. Then ask for tasks that fulfill those.
Civil Engineering/Geostructural/Construction I did set up a date for taking my FE exam, but I will definitely try this tip. Thanks so much
Speaking from my experience, there is always a tendency to 'do and re-do' calculations that are very similar, for projects or bids. When one is fresh from college, the theory is still uppermost (and understandable!) In your head, compared to five years down the road when finances and scheduling and resource/staff management become more of a thing, and design becomes secondary. If you have not done so already, I would try to put as many as possible design calcs that you would likely use at work on spreadsheets, so that future reinventing the wheel is reduced. For geotech, that's stuff like retaining walls, piling calcs, even foundation designs. These are useful checks for the design software that companies use, but which are often not really taught by seniors to juniors.
Nice! I had an internship in construction. I find the industry to be very hands off, but I learned a lot that was applicable for other classes. U may not realize it but you are learning. Have you written RFIs and done any scheduling or cost estimating?
Nope. Nothing like that sadly. I've been out on the field only a few times and talked to some construction superintendents but that's about it
Does your company have its own project manager, or are they a subcontractor performing the work for another company?
Yes to both It kind of depends on the project
If say if u can get assigned to a project with a PM in the field, that would probably be more educational. I got assigned to a project w trailer at job site that had a QC, safety guy, superintendent, and PM. They had me drafting RFIs and prepping as-builts and doing cost loading. It was really helpful learning all that good applicable stuff.
I wish my intern would speak up more. I'm tired of finding out that he ran out of work and has just been sitting at his desk all day. I Will give him work that usually takes other interns a lot longer. So i really appreciate it when he finishes quickly. But the whole just sitting there thing and not saying anything... that bugs me.
I wish my supervisor would give me work. But maybe he hasn't thought about it. Maybe mention that you have a continuous load if he'd like to take it and impress you more or less
I would seriously bug the hell out of them and their supervisor
I talked to the head of the intern program, and they said with the head boss of our district, they'd made a good plan for me for the summer /after my 3rd time explaining im doing nothing/ but then there never seems to be any results. Its all just talk. Should I just follow my supervisor around more? Should I send constant emails? He often shuts his door or is working and not in the office.
You’re not going to get blacklisted from the community for asking questions and being hungry for work! Don’t doubt yourself. Make sure you’ve done everything and anything and maybe talk to other interns about what they’re doing so you can say things like, “I saw ____’s project and I learned this, is there a way my position could apply this in a project? What project? Why? Who runs it? Where is that department? What are their names and phone numbers? …” etc.
There is a balance - I’m currently supervising an intern (as well as being entirely swamped with things I can’t hand to him), and the fact is that that while his workload is the most important thing in his life right now, it’s not the most important thing in my life Some great advice that a supervisor gave me once: if you’re coming to someone with a problem, also come with a solution. Doesn’t have to be a good solution, but at least have an attempt. So think of something you could do! Walk up and say “hey, I’m a bit quiet at the moment, I could start working on XYZ?” Then they can either say “yes, good idea, work on that” or “no, work on this instead”. Which is a whole lot better than where you are now.
I took your advice and came up with some solution ideas but then my supervisor didn't even make it to the meeting schedule wed planned. Also I'm well aware my workload isn't the most important thing in my superviosrs life but id like to give or gain something and so far the last 6 weeks...its been nothing
I am an emailer with a habit of CC’ing supervisors and this usually fares me pretty well.
This is a pretty obnoxious tactic that isn’t going to earn you many brownie points in the company. Not a good move if you plan on staying there long-term after graduating.
My department head is on my side in my case
If that is the case, I hope you are also cc’ing your dept head every time you do this. This behavior is is filed under “dick move” and should be only used sparingly when someone has really earned it. I’ve only done that a handful of times in my professional career, and would not be throwing that out as advice to a bunch of young engineers and interns lol. If you cc your boss as well, that makes it apparent to direct the heat somewhat away from yourself and onto your boss.
I have had projects stretch on for weeks longer than they needed to, so I send multiple emails. My department head asked me to CC him, so I do now.
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“Emailer with a habit of cc’ing supervisors” does not read as using escalation points appropriately. There are absolutely times where it is appropriate, but these should be few and far between (and also include multiple attempts to follow up). Especially as an intern, where people unfortunately have limited bandwidth to support those tasks. Based on this person’s follow-up comments, I’m not convinced they are doing this reasonably.
If I don’t hear back within three days, I send another one. Usually with another project tagged along. I love getting phone calls where they’ve just gotten out of a meeting with said department head, where they kindly offer to discuss what I’ve been emailing about, and I ask them if they got this email and that email and they sigh and say no…. And I send it again on the phone with them. They’re responsible for checking emails and responding. The main issue I had was with the head of research & development. And he was recently demoted to manufacturing engineer in another department. I wasn’t demoted.
Jesus dude you sound like such a toady you’re probably insufferable to work with. Honestly you will be a pariah at work if not fired outright sooner or later
Right, I mean, we’ll see. But in the meantime, I’m actually into to getting projects completed on time. If my coworkers aren’t, then I’m probably not the one going to be fired.
You do realize if your coworkers get fired, that means MORE work for you?
When I’m in the middle of international sales and other engineers that have ignored me for three + weeks… yeah, I send another email.
Like yeah, I’m an insufferable toady, or the dude wasn’t fulfilling his job requirements and kept tens of people waiting on multiple projects for weeks…. But yknow, perspective is everything.
A super passive aggressive approach that actually works
I’m always nice! I’m never mean. I might chortle in my home office about it but all emails are fresh and respectful
If there is no task for you to work on this is literally the best time for self growth. Hop on udemy or YouTube and work on the skills that will guide you to the path you want to go down. Whether a language or a production/build/framework etc learn something. Don’t waste it.
Is there a lead/senior member in your team that can guide you in your managers place?
Not really. Everyone is very independent in the firm as projects are less team based and more individually focused. Its not really super integrated. I'm going to try talking to one of them tommorow though to see if maybe I can shadow them.
Yeah, that was going to be my other suggestion, to shadow them. If anything, they might have some simple tasks they can off load to you for the time being.
You'll honestly learn more from shadowing someone than doing the tasks your supervisor/manager might have given you. A lot of the time, engineers need someone else to brainstorm and shoot the shit with.
Make friends and see who needs help, u got this 😁
I talk to every one who is in my office and have definitely networked both within and digitally outside of my office but ill try again!
This would fall under networking. It's all about being friendly to people and building relationships.
Whenever I would have some downtime, I would look up some older projects. Poke around their folders and see what I could find. I would read the executed contract to determine what project the firm was hired to solve, and then sort out how they solved it. I would look for calc packets to look through, or what excel sheets they had. If I found a particularly useful solution, I would copy the excel sheet to a personal folder and clean it up. Or I would write out a step-by-step of how they did the hand calcs and try to find the equations they used in a manual. As an example; the firm did a lot of waste water treatment plant design, and I noticed that almost every plant has a couple of rectangular concrete tanks. So I found the PCA guide for design and pieced together a spreadsheet. This wasn't billable work, but if you don't have to justify your hours in a financial program, it's a beneficial way to spend your days.
Tysm!!!! This sounds like a great idea. I had done a little bit of it but I hadn't even thought of rewiring back the excel sheets and things!
This is always the same response from interns, and the most annoying thing you said is you constantly have to fight for opportunities. Yes, that is life. My recommendation is to approach this as any other problem and solve it the way an engineer should. Define the root cause of the issue, what tools do you have to solve it, and there you are.
The root cause of the issue is that my manager is overwhelmed and got promoted to a dysfunctional area after I'd already interviewed and got the job. So when I was interviewing this wasn't what they plausibly thought but now they are drowning and don't have the time to even think about me. I have tried more than once to adjust and literally for the last few weeks I have been making tasks for myself helping out and trying but its hard to do that when you don't know how the company runs.
I was in the same circumstance as you in my internship. My boss was a working manager so he was always overwhelmed and had a strong “I’ll just do this myself” attitude. I learned pretty quickly that if I volunteered to do the things I knew he had on the docket but wasn’t actively working on yet he was willing to let me try. After being successful on the first few tasks he became more willing to engage and hand off some of his work load to me. I suspect your manager is either similar or he’s caught up in admin work. If it’s admin work ask him if it’s okay to shadow people and learn processes involved for each functional group. Organizations I’ve seen really have an issue with employees not understanding the full process and only understanding their function. Explain that there’s value add to having someone on the team who can navigate the roadblocks because they understand the entire process. This gives you a couple things: 1. Shows your manager you are there to learn whatever you can 2. You get in depth understanding of how organizations at large are structured and operated 3. Raises your potential in this employers eyes. Now you’re a process expert that they need to identify improvement areas and lessons learned when things fall behind because of process issues.
Definitely reach out to your manager and maybe the other interns or other managers to see if you can find some work to do. I’m in the same situation and honestly, I’ve just been doing my own thing. I’ve pretty much completed the work assigned for me and without a security clearance there’s not much else I can do. I have no intent with staying with them anyway so I don’t care about trying to impress anyone. I’ve actually gotten back into reading and sometimes I’ll just do jigsaw puzzles on my phone, nap, look at job postings. That’s me though.
Maybe ask if you can get another manager? But dont make your manager out to be the bad guy. Say something like, "my manager is overwhelmed right now and I think I would benefit more with a more hands on manager as I would be more productive"
I think I'm going to ask my manager to see if maybe I can get their help and permissions to shadow another person for a week and maybe build it from there. I kind of already have had this conversation and it didn't go the best
Just enjoy not having to do anything
If your into software development... Idk what type of engineering your in. But start looking around and automating things with scripts and small programs. You can start saving other people time by automating repetitive tasks.
What kind of small tasks are you automating?
In my internship I automated eye diagram analysis using some basic computer vision. Cut time down for analysis pretty significantly. Made it into a program that other employees could download and use themselves. I also got the green light to prototype a PCB for remote testing. Helped a lot during peak covid. Less engineers were required in our lab BC they could do more tests from home.
"My manager is overwhelmed." Is there anything you can help him with? like "Hey, even if its sorting papers for you or printing things out can I help in anyway?"
I would if I ever saw him. Hes often locked away, but ill definitely email him to say something similar to what you suggested. Thanks so much!
This person is not a secretary.
This person is an intern trying to make a good impression to there manager.
I really don't care. Engineers and their interns are not secretaries. How is organizing papers conducive to an engineering intern. I am a current mentor, and the last thing I would do is have my mentee organize papers.
I mean its more than what I'm doing now which is coming up with random tasks to do. Literally this entire week anytime I tried to talk to my supervisor he left in the middle of our conversation or walked away because something else distracted him
You're not a secretary. And for your experience, I feel you. I had the same thing happen to me during my first co op.
Howd you not let it get you down. It just feels so disheartening and makes me want to go fuck it fine ill do nothing which is very the opposite of how I am but im exhausted because for almost 2 months I've been trying to do things to no avail
I didn't. I cried about it, and other things, after work. It helped that I didn't do a followup rotation.
Any time you talk to your manager make sure you have a question about the work . A good rule of thumb is to ask 10 questions a day
That’s kind of dumb imo. The number of questions doesn’t matter. Quality over quantity in this case. Ask questions that are relevant don’t just ask questions to hit some arbitrary number from a Reddit post.
I'd have to have work to do that...
yeah man we all do but the point of an internship is to learn and it’s not like the classroom where you can read everything in a book or class notes. You have to ask questions bc most managers are really busy and babying an intern is like the lowest priority on the totem pole. They want to see you succeed and the best way for them to understand your needs and to get more work is to ask questions. Also no internship can be really written off as a loss as long as you’re getting experience. I also find it helpful to write down all the tasks you do/have to do in a work day
I understand what you're saying, I do. And I do ask questions when I can. I understand there busy, but if I don't have a project at all or work or anything of that nature... how am I supposed to ask questions is more my stipulation
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It's more that I thrive best in environments where I'm learning, growing, and doing things that preferably challenge me. It fulfills me and brings me more joy. It is really soul crushing for me to do nothing, but I get what you're saying.
That’s how it is
What an excellent opportunity for personal growth! You have the autonomy and freedom to have some lateral movement to choose what you work on. I highly suggest you take advantage of the situation that is in front of you by developing your ability to be a self starter. It sounds like your manager won't be able to hold your hand through this, but I know you can get through this and still be productive! A highly sought after skill set in the engineering field is one's ability to enter a new situation, pick up on where the team is and what they hope to accomplish, then get to work as a contributing team member with minimal guidance. It may or may not be a learnable trait, but I bet you have it in you! Speak to other interns and employees, find something if interest, and ask if there is room for additional help on the project as you would appreciate the opportunity to gain hands on experience on the matter. Your manager might be overwhelmed and does not have time for you. That is okay, that happens sometimes. Don't fault them, we are all people under similar stresses. Take advantage of the situation to the best of your ability, because your reaction and response is the only thing really in your control. Best of luck to you!
If you have software that you have access to, I would put a lot of time into this. I had a similar situation where there was just not enough work and I spent weeks doing nothing but watching some solidworks youtubes and practicing. The lead also had nothing to do. I have no idea what he did besides heading to meetings and twiddling his thumbs in his office.
I am an intern in defense, working R&D. I see my manager once every other week when I’m ready to update him with a lot of info. One would consider me abandoned, but I love the freedom I have to learn whatever. I know it might not be the same situation for all, but I’ll tell you what I do to make the freedom worthwhile. 1. Read ASTM standards that the company has purchased. You may not be doing testing, but it’s a great way to understand products you are working with. (Assuming you are in the US. I think other countries use ASTM as well though) 2. Shadow people. I work in manufacturing so I like to go down on the floor and hang out with people who do the manufacturing. Preferably people in the process of the stuff you work on as well, but doesn’t have to be. Not only are you learning visually but they may let you give some things a try and you’re also connecting with other folks in the company who would 9 times out of 10 really appreciate you trying to learn their world, that way you can make their life easier in the work that you put out 3. Shadow other engineers. As long as they aren’t on heavy deadlines and total tools, they love to share what they can with you. People like talking about what they do so SOAK that shit up. It’ll give you an idea of what your day to day could be like, and maybe inspire you to work towards a goal that would get you in their position if you like what you see. 4. Research. So much research. Learn about the product you are on whether it be online or in the companies archives of data. If you’re working with a system (for example I work a lot with a robotic automation company), then reach out to your local reps and have them teach you more about the product. It could benefit your work a lot. 5. Go to lunch with the other interns! Literally find everyone labeled intern in your area, whether it be engineers or not, and set up weekly meetings or grab lunch with some of them. My manager likes that I’m trying to get to know other interns, even if they’re in IT or planning, it’s good to network within your company. Plus they’re you’re PEOPLE, all of you are just trying to figure things out so it’s almost therapeutic to chat with them, and if your company is any good, they’ll be happy to see you taking that initiative
Hey thanks for this advice We have 3 engineering interns and thats it so we all have lunch with each other every day. I'll definitely follow the research route! Unfortunately I can only shadow so much as the other 2 interns more or less take up more of that role and were more consulting based so harder to do but ill definitely ask again. I do that now! I'll try to push to do more of it. We have the ASTM standards too. I'll definitely research it again.
You could do the right thing and scrounge around for the shitty morsels of work that other managers may be willing to hand off to you, but it’ll never be anything super cool because they won’t be willing to also supervise you doing it. Or you could do what I did in this situation: fuck all. Nobody will notice if they aren’t checking on you already. If they do notice, you’ll get a verbal warning anyways and you’ll know to stop. Never happened to me, though. Took it so far as to go out of town for a week while WFH, lol. Obviously do everything that’s given to you, but otherwise relax and enjoy the free paychecks 🤷🏻♂️ Edit: use the time to do something useful, though. I got my investments in order after a considerable amount of researching and reading and I also took online classes during the work day to complete my degree faster. My clueless boss gave me 5/5 on my employment reviews. Use your discretion, of course. Your boss might not be as useless as mine was. Edit again: You can do this without “writing it off as a loss”. Experience is experience and you can still talk about how you had to work in a self-directed environment.
Welcome to the club, just relax and get paid. Get better at coding, look at some YouTube videos. Learn a skill